User blog:El Alamein/The Malmedy Survivors vs. the Vorkuta Prisoners
I proudly unveil my third season and new battle format with the ultimate struggle of the survivalists as the Malmedy Survivors, the few Americans who escaped being killed in the open snow by the 1st SS Panzer Division at the Malmedy Massacre, take the Vorkuta Prisoners, the brutalized and condemned political exiles of the Soviet Union who rose up in arms against their captors and made a brave bid for freedom! It's stealth against brute force and evasion against all-out fighting fury as these two warriors prepare to face off. Both dearly prize their escape, and both went through hell and back to find it, but when these two minimalist warriors duke it out, only one will be the deadliest warrior! The Malmedy Massacre Survivors The Malmedy Survivors were 43 men left of about 120 that managed to escape ferocious German guns after their captors of the 1st SS Panzer Divison opened fire on their mostly unarmed prisoners. The massacre took place on December 17, 1944, in a field near the Belgian town of Malmedy. The men who made it back to Allied lines faced an intense brutal winter's cold, SS search parties sent after them, and their own wits and many who escaped the inital attack perished quickly afterward. Their struggle was featured in the film Saints and Soldiers, ''as survivors of the massacre struggle to evade German patrols and hide out until the Allies retake the area. Weapons |-| Close Range Weapon= 'M3 Trench Knife ' *6.75-inch blade *3.5-inch serrated edge *Riveted leather sheath *Carbon steel blade |-| Mid Range Weapon= 'M1 Bayonet' *16-inch blade *4-inch handle *Rawhide scabbard |-| Long Range Weapon= 'Colt M1911 handgun ' *.45 ACP round *7-round detachable box magazine *Muzzle velocity: 825 ft/s (251 m/s) *Two spare magazines (three total) The Vorkuta Prisoners The '''Vorkuta Prisoners' are the prisoners held in the Vorkuta Gulag who make a bold escape attempt led by Alex Mason and Viktor Reznov in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Mason and Reznov have planned out this daring escape plan for months, breaking down each step of the escape into an individual task. What begins as a simple brawl escalates into a full-out battle involving helicopters, machine guns, and makeshift siege weapons. Picking up the guard's weapons, the prisoners manage to become a formidable fighting force, considering what they had started from. Many of the prisoners are killed as they charge into a hail of fire from the guards, but Mason is able to escape to safety. Weapons |-| Close Range Weapon= Prison Knife ' *4.5-inch blade *Makeshift black tape handle *Scrap metal blade *No sheath |-| Mid Range Weapon= 'Pickaxe ' *18-inch curved head *Simple metal head *2-foot wooden handle *Slashing or hacking capabilities |-| Long Range Weapon= 'Makarov handgun *9x18mm Makarov round *8-round detachable box magazine *Muzzle velocity: 1,030 ft/s (315 m/s) *Two spare magazines (three total) X-Factors |-| Logistics= *Malmedy Survivors: 69 *Vorkuta Prisoners: 43 Although the Malmedy Survivors are very low on ammunition, their weapons are of military-grade quality and are generally reliable and accurate. The Vorkuta Prisoners have to create their own weapons and ammunition and have to make do with what they can scrap together or steal from guards. |-| Stealth= *Malmedy Survivors: 78 *Vorkuta Prisoners: 66 The Vorkuta Prisoners had no need for stealth, as their greatest moment of glory was breaking themselves violently from the confines of the Vorkuta gulag. The Malmedy Survivors, on the other hand, had a need to sneak through the Ardennes Forest and maintain a low profile after being fired upon by the 1st SS Panzer Division, as the Nazis hunted down the survivors with better-armed search patrols. |-| Training= *Malmedy Survivors: 75 *Vorkuta Prisoners: 51 The Malmedy Survivors are trained soldiers of the United States military - they're not special forces or anything, but their training is far better than the Vorkuta Prisoners, many of whom were simple peasants who found themselves on the wrong side of the Communist regime and were thrown to rot in the Gulag. There are likely a few ex-military in the Gulag (Mason and Reznov) but the majority are not soldiers. |-| Experience= *Malmedy Survivors: 72 *Vorkuta Prisoners: 63 Again, because the Malmedy Survivors are soldiers, they will have at the very least seen combat during the Battle of the Bulge, if not in other battles beforehand. The vast majority of the Vorkuta Prisoners haven't engaged in many other combat operations besides their daring escape of the gulag. |-| Endurance= *Malmedy Survivors: 71 *Vorkuta Prisoners: 85 Although the Malmedy Survivors faced intense periods of hardships and braved the cold of the Ardennes winter, it was only for a very brief (if intense) period of time. The Vorkuta Prisoners who revolted were the strongest of the bunch, and had proven themselves capable of surviving (and even thriving) in the squalid, deplorable conditions that the gulgag offered. |-| Calm Under Fire= *Malmedy Survivors: 73 *Vorkuta Prisoners: 89 The Malmedy Survivors are trained to operate under combat conditions where an enemy is shooting back at them, but their primary focus is to stay alive and escape their ordeal. The Vorkuta Prisoners are desperate men with nothing to lose, and willingly hurled themselves into overwhelming machinegun fire in a desperate attempt to escape. Battle Malmedy Survivors: Vorkuta Prisoners: The snow howls audibly in the miserably cold northern winter as a Soviet army truck bounces along a dirt road. Inside sit five American soldiers, shivering and exhausted. The Second World War has come to a sudden halt after the catastrophic defeat of the German military during the Battle of the Bulge, and the Soviet forces have declared war on the Allies just as quickly. Red Army forces stumbled upon the pitiful survivors of the Malmedy massacre and rounded them up for interrogation, preparing to transport them to the Vorkuta gulag for detention. Unbeknownst to the Soviets, one of the soldiers has managed to sneak a .45 M1911 handgun in his coat, and several of the others have stowed their bayonets and knives in their boots. Suddenly the truck grinds to a screeching halt, throwing the Americans from their seats. The driver of the truck stumbles from his seat and shouts in Russian, but several gunshots and a scream silence him. The Soviet guarding the Americans in the back of the truck jumps out, but meets a similar fate. Assuming their captors to be slain, the Malmedy survivors slowly rise and the captain peers around the corner, handgun drawn. Two more bullets ping off the side of the truck, sending the captain scrambling back for cover. The Vorkuta gulag has crumbled into chaos as the prisoners have commenced a massively determined rebellion, breaking out with makeshift and stolen weapons and fleeing into the surrounding winter wasteland. Five of the Vorkuta prisoners (including the Monster of Magadan, Sergei Kozin) have fled down the main road, bringing them to a brutal collision with the truck carrying the Malmedy Survivors. As the Malmedy Survivors sprint down the road for cover behind a snowbank and a ditch, the Vorkuta Prisoner with the handgun shoots at the Americans, injuring one in the leg and the shoulder. The wounded man falls and hits the dirt road as his comrades reach safety. A third shot to the stomach finishes him off, sending him in a violent death spasm that throws a blood splatter across the snow. The Vorkuta prisoners advance as the gunslinger fires again, only to hear the infamous click of death. A moment later the Malmedy survivor captain rises with his .45 and places one round into the Russian's chin. The Vorkuta prisoner clasps at the gaping hole in his face and drops the pistol as he crumples backward to the ground. While the Vorkuta prisoners turn to recover the firearm and the magazines on their dead ally's body, the Malmedy survivors take off, sprinting in the opposite direction and down a nearby hill. "Take cover behind that tree," the captain orders one of his men, handing him the pistol. "We'll grab their attention to the east and you can take them by surprise." The Malmedy survivor takes off right before the Vorkuta prisoners appear on the top of the hill. Sergei Kozin hops down with his pickaxe and charges forward while the Malmedy survivors unsheathe their blades and try to steel themselves for the fight to come. Rushing forward, the captain bravely plunges his trench knife into the Monster of Magadan's stomach, but Sergei swats him aside with his arm and pushes forward, swinging his pickaxe and tearing through the torso of one of the Americans. He shakes the pickaxe to dislodge the body stuck on it and raises it high over his head for another attack, only to be interrupted by a pistol shot to the shoulder. Stumbling forward painfully, he grunts in confusion and turns to see the Malmedy survivor with the pistol aiming at him. The American suddenly jerks to the side, blood spurting from his neck, as a 9mm from the Makarov slams into his face. The pistol falls from his hand and lands into the snow. The captain of the Malmedy survivors rolls over, regaining consciousness, and his eyes drift to where the M1911 lays on the ground. He crawls on his stomach, racked with pain, while his last surviving soldier sidesteps a brutal swing from Sergei and makes for the pistol-toting Vorkuta prisoner. The Russian scrambles to change magazines once more - having spent his second-to-last clip during the firefight earlier - but is too slow as the American grabs him by the scruff of his collar and throws him to the ground. The Makarov skitters to the dirt road below, the magazine clattering in the opposite direction. The Malmedy survivor follows up by plunging the bayonet into the chest of the Russian and dragging it up and out, tearing his throat in the process. He throws the gurgling Russian off the side of the road and turns to a Vorkuta prisoner rushing him with a makeshift knife made of scrap metal. The short blade punctures through his coat and into his upper leg, but fails to reach anyting substantial. In extreme pain, the American places his off-hand over the knife, preventing the Russian from extracting it for a second strike, and slashes his attacker across the side of his face. A deep gash sprouts in crimson red and the Vorkuta prisoner lets go of the prison knife, grasping at his face with both hands and yelling in fear. As he reels in pain, the Malmedy survivor runs up to him, stomps hard on his foot to get him to lean forward, and stabs downward into the Russian's exposed back. The injured American looks down at his leg and the knife buried into it, giving Sergei time enough to charge up the hill to the roadside while the only other remaining Vorkuta prisoner makes a dive for the Makarov. Sergei smashes into the Malmedy survivor's leg with the pickaxe, shattering the kneecap and sending the American crashing painfully to the ground. Ignoring the sharp bone fragments jutting out of his ruined limb, the Malmedy survivor holds his knife up in his palm as Sergei stomps down on his head with his entire weight behind it. blue.png Sergei drives his foot down with enough force to entirely skewer his heel with the knife, and drops his pickaxe in shock. He lurches forward and falls as the American captain slices through his spine with the M3 knife, killing him instantly. Down the road, the terrified Vorkuta prisoner snatches up the Makarov handgun and its magazine, and looks up to see the Monster of Magadan tumble to the ground like a fallen pillar and the smaller Malmedy survivor standing victorious behind him. The Russian hurriedly slides the magazine into place and pulls on the slide, raising the pistol and firing wildly just as the Malmedy survivor raises his M1911 and pulls the trigger seven times. The prisoner's shots fly wild, the bullets whizzing harmlessly into the snow all around. The American's shots hit home, the Vorkuta prisoner jerking seven times as each .45 tears into his body with lethal velocity. The Vorkuta prisoner looks down at his body, riddled with holes, and crumples to his knees before sliding facefirst into the dirt road. The American drops his spent magazine and inserts his last spare before making a quick examination of his surroundings and making a break for the safety of the cover of the forest. WINNER: MALMEDY SURVIVORS Expert's Opinion Although the Vorkuta prisoners had the advantage of a marginally superior firearm and the intimidating physicality of the Monster of Magadan, the Malmedy survivors were simply the better warriors in nearly every respect - better trained, better experienced, and better equipped for a battle against other combat-competent soldiers. Category:Blog posts